Jean's Regency Day Gown

This is a Regency Gown using the 1815-1825 period bodice pattern from the Period Costume for Stage & Screen: Patterns for Women's Dress 1800-1909. It's an amazing reference book for anyone interested in making period costumes.

I had a great time designing and shopping for the materials for the gown with Jean. I just finished it last night, happily listening to the rain and watching "Bones: Season 4." I probably should've been watching "Pride & Prejudice" or something more appropriate.

As usual, I think that the gown looks better on the person than on my dress form, so I will have to wait until the Jane Austen Ball for pictures of Jean in this gown.

I hadn't made a Regency Gown in a long time, but since I'd done so many, this was a lot of fun. I also made a reticule from the leftover scraps.

So here are pictures of the gown, a close-up of the back (love the gathers), and the reticule.

Wonder Woman

This is the second Wonder Woman costume I've created based on a cartoon. The first one was for my sister based on the Lynda Carter one. Cathie and I've been talking about making a Wonder Woman costume for her for ages and we finally did it this year for Halloween. Cathie looks amazing and it was a really fun project for me - so different from the period costumes I usually do.

Ann Boleyn Costume Part II

I am so proud of my costume! This is the first time I tried to copy a historic figure and I think it turned out really well. I loved wearing this at West Hollywood's Carnaval. Lots of people guessed who I was correctly, and if not, they guessed the time-frame. Some asked if I was Queen Elizabeth, which was fine since she was Ann Boleyn's daughter.

It was totally worth it for me to stay up until 6 am the night before Halloween sewing on all the beads.

I forgot to take pictures of the farthingale and the farthingale pad, but it's okay. No one sees those parts anyway.

Ann Boleyn Costume Part I

It's been far too long since I last made a period costume. I have been sewing, but very rarely. The only thing I did this year was a Wonder Woman costume for Cathie.

Finally, I am back to being inspired to do a real period piece.

I was first inspired by the Tudor period when I went to London early summer. They were celebrating the life of Henry VIII so we got to see lots of exhibits about him and the time. At Hampton Court, they had re-enactors who re-created Henry VIII's wedding day and we got to see Lady Katherine Parr get dressed. That's when I first thought I'd like to make something. But I forgot all about it again until I watched the first two seasons of "The Tudors" on DVD. And I've decided to make an Ann Boleyn costume for myself for Halloween. I've gotten a lot done, but I still have lots to do this week.

So far, I have the corset pretty much done - just need to put the grommets in. I have most of the French Hood finished - just need to sew on the lace in the front. I am half-done with the decorative lower sleeves, and I'm half-way done with the farthingale. The only thing completely finished is the necklace.

Also, being on a very tight budget, I am only using fabrics I already have. But I still spent plenty of money on beads, fake pearls, corset bones, and crinoline steels, and other little things.

Here are a couple of pictures. One is drafting the pattern of the farthingale onto the pattern paper.

One is the farthingale being put together. The satin fabric was very difficult to work with, but I think the end results will be worth it.

The others are of the lower sleeves being constructed. More pictures to come later.

UGH!

For the last two days, I've noticed that someone else is posting stupid, inappropriate ads on my blog and I've had to delete them. I've changed my password, and tried to find ways of making this more secure, but I didn't see anything on Blogger.
It's really annoying - I may even just delete this blog.

Little Red Revisited

Here's the model wearing her Little Red Riding Hood cloak. Much better on her than on my dressform. And I'm happy to see the blue cloaks I made them a couple of years ago are still loved.